10-1 pm Arrivals
1-2.30 pm Greet & meet of the participants, curator’s presentation of the structure of the courses.
2.30-3.30 pm Lecture by Ulrike Jordan and Q&A sessiont
3.30-4.30 pm Group workshop with Ulrike Jordan
4.30-6.30 pm Student presentations (each presentation lasts 20 min with Q&A up to 10 min).
6.30-8 pm Time for individual feedback sessions
8-9 pm Dinner

The Artist Placement Group (APG) was founded in the UK in 1966. The group initiated and organised placements for artists within industry and public institutions, in which artists would conduct research and develop ideas and projects in-situ. The APG intended to no longer confine artistic practices to the studio, but to extend the reach of the artist to commercial, industrial and governmental contexts. My lecture will give an overview of the APG’s history as an institution founded by artists and an introduction into their conceptual background. A particular focus will be given on the APG’s principle of the Open Brief, which implied that the placement will be an open-ended process whose results cannot be fixed beforehand.
During the workshop we will engage in a close reading of two APG-placements, that of Garth Evans at the British Steel Corporation (1969-71) and that of Roger Coward at the Dept. of the Environment (1975). The two placements reflect the broad contextual scope of the APG’s approach and will be a starting point for discussing the different expectations of both artists and institutions during the placements. This will lead us to taking a critical look at the principle of the “Open Brief” and discuss the emancipatory potential (as well as the shortcomings) the refusal of a pre-defined outcome can still bear today. What can we learn from the APG for contemporary context-based art practices, which are often expected to prove their “usefulness” or produce a measurable outcome? Can artists still maintain a critical agency when having to operate i.e. as creative consultants or social workers?

“Artistic protest and critique: some Lithuanian examples” lecture by Skaidra Trilupaitytė and workshop by Laima Kreivytė

We will discuss forms of artistic opposition in the democratic society. Taking into account different theoretical approaches, the attempt will be made to clarify the notions of artistic involvement in collective social actions, protests and political critique. The attention will be paid to the neoliberal political consensus and its opposition therefore the categories such as strike, protest and disobedience will be related not to more or less abstract “critical theory discourse”, but to some actual practices. The chosen examples of Lithuanian art during the first decade of XXI century reflect specific creative artistic “trajectories”, to paraphrase P. Bourdieu.
After the lecture there will be a workshop by an artist and writer Laima Kreivytė “Public mis(s)appropriations and institutional critique”. During the workshop we will discuss the artistic practices related to the public space. How can we disrupt the hierarchical power structures from the inside? What artistic and activist strategies to choose? We will analyse interventions, performances and mis(s)appropriations combining social and institutional critique. By engaging in performative dialogues with different “others” we will test the openness of the public spaces both theoretically and practically. We will explore Rosalyn Deutsche’s ideas about conflict, division, and instability as the conditions of the democratic public sphere.

Dr. Nina Möntmann

In my paper I am analyzing the transformations of the role and definition of a “community” as a social construction within the public sphere. A community, whether it is an active part of public life or, in its negation, operating in clandestinity, and even a private community, like a family or a group of friends, is to be seen in relation to the politics of the public sphere. What is the potentiality of a community towards societal and institutional frameworks? A community is also permanently renegotiating identity issues. What does it add to or rather take from the subjectivity of the individual? Against the background of these questions I will introduce contemporary examples of participatory practice as well as the potential of collective artwork.
As an example for a curatorial concept focusing on participatory art projects in the public sphere I will introduce the non-profit initiative „New Patrons“, which was founded in France in 1991. The “New Patrons” initiative is trying to close the existing gap between art in public space and actual societal concern by giving each citizen the chance to initiate an artwork in order to formulate a specific request or concern. Therefore the projects of the „New Patrons“ are commissioned by groups of the civil society, like a group of neighbors, colleagues or association members, or even a small village. This innovative model of contemporary art production introduces the idea of art of and for civil society. 

BARBARA STEVENI conceived and co-founded (APG) the Artist Placement Group in London in 1965. Its founding artists working in the emergent fields of conceptual art and multi-media were: Barry Flanagan, David Hall, John Latham, Anna Ridley and Jeffrey Shaw. APG, later renamed O+I (Organisation and Imagination) acted as the precursor to current notions of ‘Artist in Residence’ and Public Art Programmes. Steveni’s original concept was realised by expanding the reach of art and artists into commercial/industrial concerns, government agencies and educational institutions at all levels, including decision-making, and on a basis equivalent to any other engaged specialist. Steveni’s role within APG and the current interest in the relevance of APG’s methodology and legacy were explored in a series of APG related events which culminated in an exhibition at Raven Row Gallery, London in 2012. Since 2002 she has engaged in a personal work under the title I AM AN ARCHIVE tracing through a series of walks, revisits, interviews, exhibitions, conversations and performances, her life and role within APG/O+I in relation to today’s circumstance and to current and future art practice. She lectures, performs and exhibits nationally and internationally.

APG’s archive was purchased by the Tate Gallery in 2004. 

Let’s envision together the scope of a new, possibly humorous, system for production and collaboration. Imagine the future with us. In the casual setting of a dinner, Robertas Narkus, founder of 'Vizionierius' will give an introduction to its program. 'Vizionierius' is a Lithuanian-based cooperation which aims to intersect cutting edge ideas from the world of the arts with those of science, combined with the professionalism of local craftsmanship. This vital alliance based on the sharing of acts and thoughts is in itself an urgent exercise in freedom.

Dr. Sofia Pantouvaki

“Interactive Opera at Primary Schools: Performance Design as a Tool for Creative Interaction and New Social Encounters”

This lecture focuses on the collaboration between artists from the field of performing arts and educational institutions (non-university), through analysing the structure, the implementation and the results of a large-scale EU-funded project. The project presented as a case study is entitled ‘Interactive Opera at Primary Schools’ and was led by Greek National Opera (2011-2015) in collaboration with a number of partner artists. It involved the staging of a new production of Rossini’s opera ‘The Barber of Seville’ as a platform for schoolchildren to engage creatively with an opera performance through specific actions in the making of the opera and in direct interaction with the artists-professionals. The lecture analyses how creative activities, undertaken before the performance and integrated in it, became a means for education using transdisciplinary methods, providing space for expression, active participation, teamwork, and social integration. Special emphasis is put on the designers’ extended role participating in the project as scenographers/artists and researchers/educators. Results from the implementation of this project show the potential of transdisciplinary collaboration between artists and institutions for co-action with impact on an educational, cultural and sociological level for future generations.

Teemu Leinonen

“Art and creativity in the time of metrics and analytics”

Our time is a time of metrics and analytics. The growing possibilities to collect data have also affect how academia, art and cultural organizations are expected to operate. We are asked to demonstrate impact. In the academia, in sciences, the metrics set are often publications and merits in the academic community. Although, these are problematic, too, in science these metrics seems to work to some degree. When combined with data from other sources and with some analytics we can some way compare universities and departments impact. There is a shared understanding that the same methods do not work so well in social sciences and even less well in humanities and arts. Although, metrics and analytics is difficult in humanities and arts should we anyhow try to create them? Could we modify the ways of doing metrics and analytics in science to humanities and to arts? In my talk I will discuss the phenomena of growing interest to do quantitative measurements in science, arts and culture. I also will present several possible scenarios of the future. The talk will help students to work on good strategies to pursue a career.

“The culture of collisions: why the arts and science collide@CERN” by Ariane Koek

In July 2012 the world’s largest particle physics laboratory, CERN, located outside Geneva discovered the Higgs Boson with the world’s largest machine, the LHC. The discovery led to Nobel prizes. But there was another experiment being carried out at the Large Hadron Collider – which was working with a dimension even less understood than gravity. That dimension is the human imagination.
Today Arts@CERN is a fully established multi-disciplinary arts programme colliding the imagination and knowledge of artists with those of scientists and engineers. But why should CERN welcome what some would see as a fundamental distraction from its science? And what is the true purpose of such an endeavour? Ariane Koek who initiated, designed and directed the programme for 5 years gives her unique personal insight into how the culture of collisions leads to creativity – and even to the catwalks of the Paris Fashion Week. 

The programme is organised by the Vilnius Academy of Arts, Lithuania, and Aalto University, School of Arts, Design and Architecture.

PARTNERS

ArcInTex network
ArcInTex European Training Network (ETN) is a network for early stage researchers to explore the expressions of sustainable forms of future living in the intersection of Architecture, Fashion Design and Interaction Design. With EU funding through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action European Training Network, the Vilnius Academy of Arts is now one of a consortium of academic institutions and companies able to offer funded studentships to early stage researchers. Together, the researchers will belong to a new generation of designers, who build their work practice on new ideas of material and design thinking with an emphasis on sensitive design for reflective living.

ABOUT VAA NIDA ART COLONY

NIDA ART COLONY (NAC) is a subdivision of the Vilnius Academy of Arts opened in March 2011. Its overall objective is to create favourable conditions for creative contemporary art practices as well as for the implementation of innovations in art education by promoting international cooperation. NAC is based in a small resort of Nida between the Baltic Sea coast and Curonian Lagoon. Nida is located 49 km from the 3rd biggest Lithuanian city and seaport Klaipeda and 357 km from capital city Vilnius. Nida has only 1.400 inhabitants during off-season but it becomes more than 10 times bigger during summer season. NAC building houses five artistic residencies, exhibition, conference and workshop spaces, image, sound and print laboratories, wood and metal processing workshop, and a student dormitory.